Global solar power solutions provider hasseveral PV projects under development in addition to ongoingnegotiations with local project developers. The aim is to expandPhoton Energy’s own portfolio of power plants. In the long term thecompany also wants to be active with its EPC division and as aprovider of operations and maintenance of PV power plants. A set offactors make Hungary a promising market for solar energy.
“We have been evaluating the marketvery carefully and are now confident enough to announce that wehave decided to both enter into the proprietary development ofprojects and to seek cooperation with local project developers tobring PV projects to the bankable ready-to-build stage”, saysPhoton Energy CEO Georg Hotar.
In a first step, through the fully-ownedsubsidiary Photon Energy HU SPV 1 Kft., Photon Energy is developingprojects with a total installed capacity of some 6 MWp in alocation near Budapest (details withheld for competitive reasonsfor now). Concurrently, Photon Energy is evaluating other locationsfor greenfield development as well as the cooperation with severallocal developers.
A combined set of factors points to Hungarybecoming a promising market for solar PV in the next couple ofyears. With a share of 11% of electricity consumption beinggenerated from renewable energy sources in 2016, Hungary fallssignificantly short of its EU commitment of 20% by 2020. Hungaryhas limited potential for other renewable energy sources and thanksto the material decline in investment costs for PV plants and localfinancing costs in combination with functioning support mechanismsprovide for the commercial viability of PV plants in Hungary.Off-take prices for renewable energy around EUR 100 per MWh for upto 25 years allow for attractive returns for investors, while localbanks have a strong mandate and appetite to provide long-termproject financing on attractive terms.
“After our correct decision to avoidpast opportunities in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey we feelconfident in the fundamentals of the Hungarian market. As anexperienced and committed player on the market we aim to realise atleast 50 MWp of new PV projects both for our portfolio andthird-party investors in the next couple of years. At this point weare confident to commence the construction of PV plants in Hungarystill within 2017”, Hotar concluded.
Jan Krcmar
T +420 773 032 182
E jan.krcmar@photonenergy.com